2022 F1 Imola GP Sprint race: Max Verstappen beats Charles Leclerc in the battle for the win

The Imola GP Sprint delivered an outstanding edge-of-the-seat battle between Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. In a race that featured action up and down the grid, the new regulations resulted in an epic battle between the two championship contenders at the front and multiple battles all over the grid.

So, for those who missed it, here's what happened!

---

F1 Imola GP: Here's what happened!

#1 Max Verstappen overtakes Charles Leclerc to win the sprint after losing out at the start

Max Verstappen lost out to Charles Leclerc at the start of the race due to a poor getaway. The Red Bull driver, however, was able to keep piling on the pressure on the Ferrari driver throughout the race. Verstappen was always around 1-1.5 seconds behind Leclerc. In the later stages of the race, Leclerc started suffering from tire wear that allowed the Red Bull to get within the one-second DRS window.

After a couple of sighters behind Leclerc, the Dutchman made the decisive move over the Ferrari driver to clinch the win, as well as a start on pole position for the Imola GP.

#2 Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz storm through the field

Although expected, both Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz were able to storm through the field. They overtook the Alpine, the Haas, and the McLarens to secure a P3 and P4 start respectively for the Imola GP. Perez made a great start to dispose off Fernando Alonso and then, during the race, he picked off Kevin Magnussen and Lando Norris one by one.

Sainz was at his aggressive best as he overtook Alonso, Daniel Ricciardo, Magnussen, and Norris on the way to securing a P2 and P4 start for Ferrari at the Imola GP.

#3 Haas and Alpine fall back

Both Kevin Magnussen and Fernando Alonso suffered from a lack of pace in the Sprint race and fell down the order. Alonso, who started the race in P5, finished outside of points in P9. Meanwhile, Magnussen's gamble of starting the race on medium tires backfired as he struggled for pace (although his teammate Mick Schumacher was able to make up places using the same strategy). The Dane dropped down from 4th to finish 8th in the race.

The Haas drivers will start the Imola GP in 8th and 10th while for Alpine, the race start will feature Alonso in 9th and Esteban Ocon in 15th.

#4 Mercedes have a disappointing outing

Mercedes appeared to have a good baseline setup for the race during the FP2 session. A bad start for both the drivers, however, put paid to that advantage. Both the drivers were stuck in the DRS train and could not make their way through the field.

Although both drivers did make some progress, it won't be any better than P11 (George Russell) and P14 (Lewis Hamilton) for them in the Imola GP.

#5 The new regulations help with the overtakes

To the surprise of many (including us), the Sprint was not a procession. Two crucial factors — tire wear and DRS effectiveness — turned the race into a spectacle. The DRS zone down the pit straight is effective and the cars can now follow each other more closely.

This helped quicker cars have the opportunity down the long straight, resulting in multiple overtakes. The track is notorious for its lack of overtaking opportunities, but the Sprint showed that we are in for a pretty intense race.